obiwanknabbe

It does look like it was cut down just a little, but the hamon does terminate in the nakago. I think the polish looks better in the photos than in hand. Its a bit dull looking and as it was mentioned, some details look a bit harsh.. Camera flash is highlighting details pretty well. Mune is a bit jagged and has some dark rust spots.. Like I said, it was bent at some point.

Any thoughts?

So I got a package a while ago from my dear friend Kazuhiro Hayashi, who as many of you know had recently passed. In the package, a bare blade, no fittings. . He did this from time to time, sending me unusual pieces that he thought I would be Interested in. I like the odd sort of things. Its a Wakizashi with just shy of a 22 inch Nagasa and a deep bohi running the lengh of the blade into the nakago. The sori is about 1/3 inch measured from the Mune machi. It has a very very slight bend but I think that could be sorted by someone who knows how. The polish is not great, but some of the details are visible. Of note, the Hamon is all over the place, which is why I think he sent it to me to begin with. No clear pattern. There is a lot of activity. Big Nie crystals. Lots of sunegashi all up and down the blade. I cant really see much of the hada. It is signed. KUNIHIRO. old style kanji. The nakago does still have some yasuri mei, and there are 3 mekugi ana. one was plugged, one towards the bottom looks recent, and the main looks to be hand punched. I'll post up some pictures and we can all have a discussion about it and what I should do with it next. I'm considering full restoration considering the personal meaning it has.

Hey folks.. looking for a Satsuma Motohira kogatana to finish up a set. I have a motoyasu waskizashi with a Mototake signed tsuba. The kogatana is missing.

I am saddened to share the passing of a dear friend. Kazuhiro Hayashi left us on June 16th, peacefully in his sleep. He was the founder of the NY nihonto owners club, my mentor, and a dear friend. I dont know how many of you knew him, but for those of us who did, we can count ourselves fortunate. Please keep him his his wife your thoughts today.

I have the original tsuka for my Motoyasu wakizashi with some good quality fittings. The issue is the samegawa is shot. Nodules mostly missing as seen in the pics and splitting on the other side. What is the concensus on having it re wrapped?

Over the years I have seen many such items for sale on ebay and other sites. Cut off Nakago, from wartime destroyed swords; sometimes with Mei, sometimes not. Part one of the question, do these really have any historical significance in the collector community or are they merely trinkets/curiosities? Mei examples for comparison seems plausible but not likely reliable as the rest of the sword is missing making conclusive kantei murky at best. Part 2, especially concerning unsigned examples, what is the concensus about further cutting these up and reusing the antique steel to forge new traditionally made blades? I'm of the understanding that the steel used in older swords (like from the koto period and earlier) is not replicatable today due to trace elements that were only pesent in the ore at that time. Have at it! Kurt

Here are a few of the tsuba I've acquired over the years. There are a few interesting pieces but a cursory examination of the collection reveals that I may need more.

As I go further and further down the smithing rabbit hole, I find myself searching for illusive answers to some technical forging questions. Something I've seen a few times in kantei are descriptions of "controlled nei and noi" from various smiths. I'm wondering how this control was executed. Are there any good books or papers that dive into the deep technical "how" of ancient forging techniques?

Sorry about that. My phone auto rotated the pic. Fixed.

Can anyone help with this mei? It was a gift from a friend. I think it starts "Bi shu ju" but I'm not particularly knowledgeable about tsuba. Any info about the maker would be appreciated as well.

I have been watching some videos lately about modern sword smiths in Japan and the struggles they face. What does everyone think about having a raffle and the $ goes towards commissioning a new sword from one of the smiths?

Still available. Reasonable offers accepted.

Hey bazza. No pics to speak of. It's a hypothetical question. Just something I was thinking over while staring at the ceiling.